PRESENTATION BY BARBARA MCKENNA, M.ED.

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT

The Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy

Welcome to all of you! Thanks for taking the time to dig into your background knowledge and revisit exciting new findings in our learning brains!

This is me!

Can’t wait to get started!

It’s a change of pace for you!

Welcome to Unit 4 SeminarCS113

Your unit of study is Critical ThinkingMy presentation today focuses on the 6 levels of critical thinking that everyone should be able to

use comfortably.

When we finish, I know you will feel as if creativity is consistently in your life!

Creating the “NEW”

Please join me on a journey up Bloom’s Newly Revised Taxonomy!

With new research and application in the field of study of the learning brain…

David A. Sousa, Ed. D. has offered this explanation: “…cognitive psychologists have long suspected that thinking skills at the upper levels were a lot more fluid than Bloom’s rigid hierarchy suggested..” (Sousa, 2006).

So, let’s take a ride!

Do you remember Benjamin Bloom? Do you remember hearing about Benjamin Bloom or Bloom’s

Taxonomy?

Educational Psychologist and Scholar 1956 published his findings in cognitive thinking called a taxonomy 1970s Bloom’s Taxonomy became a familiar teaching tool in schools 2006 David Sousa, Educational Psychologist and Scholar publishes

the revised taxonomy based on the need to adapt it to the modern era and newly discovered advancements in the learning brain.

BenjaminBloom

David A. Sousa

Let’s Do It!

Can you answer these questions?

1. How do you make an ice cream cone?2. What are the similarities and differences

between a Jaguar XK and a Toyota Prius?3. Defend why we should or should not have

socialized medicine.

Types of Thinking

Your brain is involved in three different kinds of thinking with these questions.

1. How do you make an ice cream cone?2. What are the similarities and differences between a Jaguar XK and a Toyota Prius?3. Defend why we should or should not have socialized medicine.

#1 is remembering #2 is analyzing

#3 is making a judgment call.

“Brain scans show that different parts of the brain are involved as the problem solving task becomes more complicated” (Sousa, 2006).

Emotional “Thinking” isn’t Critical Thinking

Emotional thinking is actually the work of the Amygdala in the Limbic Area of the Brain.

The Amygdala automatically analyzes stimuli for threats to survival.

When the Amygdala engages the brain in fight, flight or freeze it is in reaction to threats.

The Amygdala (a-myg-da-la)

At this point, the critical thinking brain is highly affected (basically shut off) while the brain engages in the processes necessary to survive.

Stress is a threat to the brain. SO…. The most important information that we can garner

from this slide is to keep stress under control.

Doing this allows the critical thinking brain to fully engage in higher level thinking skills. Our goal is to discuss these higher level thinking skills.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy was developed as an hierarchy. That means one must achieve the first level before entering the second level and so on. (Begin at the bottom.

Knowledge KnowledgeComprehension ComprehensionApplication ApplicationAnalysis AnalysisSynthesis EvaluationEvaluation Create!

The OriginalThe Revised

FLUIDITY

The first three levels of the taxonomy have been called the literal thinking levels. (literal: taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory - the NEW OXFORD AMERICAN DICTIONARY 2001)

Level one – Knowledge – just requires that you recall or remember information (i.e., how to make an ice cream cone).

Level two – Comprehension- just expects that you understand the information that you are learning (i.e., explain what we need to gather together in order to make an ice cream cone).

Level three – Application – just requires us to “apply it, do it or use it” (i.e., make an ice cream cone).

Higher Level Thinking Skills

The top three levels require more complex thinking. Level Four – Analysis – requires that we compare and

contrast and research the information we claim to know (i.e., compare the ice cream cone you made to another).

•How are they the same?•How are they different?•What might you do to change your cone?•What might you take away?•What might you add?•What are they made from?•Is there a better ingredient?

Back to Fluidity

The New Level Five – Evaluation – requires you to make a judgment on your findings, to be able to make a recommendation or not.

The New Level Six – Create! – requires you to create your own “new” with your uniqueness.

What is Fluidity?

David Sousa’s revised model of Bloom’s Taxonomy allows for fluidity and movement of the thinking skills that are necessary to be able to create the unique and new learning.

Different parts of the brain are activated to solve the different components of the problem.

Most of this takes place in the frontal cortex and is happening during the entire process of analysis, evaluation and creation. That’s fluidity!

Logic Rationality Pattern identification Image making Approximation

SO…………..

Our job is to teach not only ourselves how best to deliver learning by engaging students in higher level thinking….

But also to teach others how their brains actually engage in higher level thinking based upon the learning actions they take on their path.

How do we do that?

So, let’s give it a try.

Remember, if we start with KISS it’s easier to transfer the positive effect of a success! (keep it simple, silly!)

Okay, here’s your problem: You have been asked to demonstrate your knowledge

of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy by talking about the levels of learning you can achieve through gardening.

LEVEL 1: You are on the level called Knowledge.

So what will you do to prove you have competency on level one?

(LEVEL 1) Did you say, “Remember what goes into a garden and how to plant it.”?

You are now on the second level called Comprehension. What will you do to show you have

competency on Level Two?

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

Level 2

Comprehension

(LEVEL 2) Did you say, “Explain how to plant a garden.”?

You are now on the third level called Application. What will you do to show you have

competency on Level Three?

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

Level 3

Application

(LEVEL 3) Did you say, “Plant it.”?

You are now on the fourth level called Analysis. What will you do to show you have

competency on Level Four? (This is where critical thinking begins.)

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

Level 4 Analysis

(LEVEL 4) Did you say, “Compare your garden to others and research

possibilities.”?

You are now on the fifth level called Evaluation. What will you do to show you have

competency on Level Five? (Evaluation)

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

Level 5

Evaluation

(LEVEL 5) Did you say, “Make a judgment on your garden, some recommendations,

perhaps.”?

You are now on the sixth level called Create! What will you do to show you have

competency on Level Six?

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

Level 6 Create!

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

(LEVEL 6) Create! Did you say, “Create a new and unique garden based on your experiences and your research!”?

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

Now, apply this revised taxonomy to the way you learn.

1.Do you recall the information?2.Can you explain it to someone?3.Have you used it?4.Have you compared it to other similar information. Have you done further research to enhance your knowledge?5.Make an evaluation on the topic based on your experience and learning.6.Create your own…for example with no chance of plagiarizing, you write a how to garden book (if we stick to our original example.)

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

Now, apply this revised taxonomy to the way you teach others.

1.Do you give yourself an opportunity to pull up background information on your topic? (This insures that the brain will store the new with the old.)2.Do you give yourself an opportunity to explain to you or others?3.Do you make an opportunity to use the information?4.Have you been able to compare their new learning to other similar situations?5.Do you have the opportunity to make a judgment call on the information and back it with data?6.Do you take the opportunity to create a “new” either for themselves or others?

I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING…

Remember, we are looking closely at the taxonomy.Remember, many of us are already to be on the

analysis level.Remember we need to reach “CREATE” ourselves!Okay, how about difficult vs. complex?

What Kind of Questions do You ask?

Where do you ask questions? Discussion Board, Virtual Office, Email, AIM, Seminar, Chat

What kind of questions do you ask? take a look at the verbs….

Knowledge Match, recognize, list, identify, describe, name, define, show, record, select

Comprehension Explain, locate, inquire, demonstrate, discover, translate, interpret

Difficult vs. Complex

Application Make it, do it, collect, organize, construct, experiment, sketch it, draw it, group it

Analysis Categorize, take apart, compare, contrast, dissect, research, survey, question, uncover, show cause/effect

Difficult vs. Complex

Evaluation Justify, debate, solve, recommend, judge, criticize, prove, dispute

Create! Imagine, predict, hypothesize, design, invent, infer, improve, adapt, compose, change, create, write your unique version

Go!! Complex!

Don’t give more of the same level questioning…Move UP the taxonomy. Choose your verbs from the higher levels The Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy

KnowledgeComprehensionApplicationAnalysisEvaluationCreate!

The Road to Critical Thinking

Questions to contemplate… (Sousa, 2006) What would you have done? Why do you think this is the best choice? What are some of the things you wondered about while this was

happening? Could this ever really happen? What might happen next? How is it different from….? Can you give an example? Where do we go next? Where could we go for help on this? Have we left anything important out? Can we trust the souse of this material? In what other ways could this be done? How can you test this theory? How many ways can you think of to use…………? Do you agree with this author/speaker? Why or why not? Can you isolate the most important idea? How could you modify this? How would changing the sequence affect

the outcome? How can you tell the difference between….and ….?

Activities to Stimulate Higher-Order Thinking

Take a look at these suggestions from Sousa, 2006 p. 270. Encourage yourself to use analogies and metaphors when describing and

comparing new concepts, theories, and principles. Attempt to solve real life problems (e.g., energy crisis, environmental

pollution) where there is a possibility of more than one adequate solution. Ask questions that foster higher-order thinking, such as those with

multiple answers or several equally correct answers. Involve yourself in debates and discussions that tackle more than one side

of an issue, and require students to support their arguments with evidence.

Use role plays or simulations of events where people hold (held) conflicting views (e.g., drafting the U.S. Constitution, women’s right to vote).

Explore the methods used to develop knowledge in a particular field. For example: What technologies help us look inside the living human brain?

Whew!

Where do we go from here?1. Well, first digest the information that is new to you.2. Perhaps you can begin the process of analyzing this new

learning by doing further research.3. Evaluate what you have learned based upon your

analysis.4. Create your own way to deliver and use this information.

When you have reached the CREATE! level yourself you will feel good about sharing and using Blooms Revised Taxonomy.

The more you know about how our brains learn, the more you will want to know! Check out some of the other topics on the learning brain.

What’s Next?

Unit 5 is up next! Get ready to learn and revisit some great reading strategies that will help you to jump step by step up the taxonomy so as you read you will not only comprehend--- You will apply You will analyze and research You will evaluate and decide You will create your own, your unique own!

THANK YOU!

It has been such a pleasure! I hope I have created some wonder in your own learning brain, and I hope you will share thisinformation with others. It has the potential to enhance learning for so many! Barb McKenna bmckenna@kaplan.edu

References:Goleman, D. (1995) Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam

Books.Sousa, D.A. (2006) How the Brain Learns (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:

Corwin Press.Sylwester, R. (2005). How to explain a brain: An educator’s handbook

of brain terms and cognitive processes. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.